10 more N.J. properties sued for price-gouging

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John Schoonejongen
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November 28, 2012 @ 10:19 am
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One New Jersey hotel charged customers nearly $450 for a night’s stay following superstorm Sandy, and a Piscataway gas station bumped its fuel price to $4.50 a gallon after the storm, according to price-gouging complaints filed by the state Attorney General.

The latest round of price-gouging lawsuits include seven hotels and three gas stations the state says raised prices to exorbitant levels following the declaration of a state of emergency. State law forbids excessive price hikes during and up to 30 days after a declared state of emergency.

Four of the hotels were owned by one company, Ratan Hospitality. The complaint alleges that its properties — a Howard Johnson Express in Clifton, a Holiday Inn Express in North Bergen, a Ramada Inn in East Orange and a Howard Johnson Express in Parsippany — all raised rates between 30 and 151 percent. The complaint says there were more than 450 instances of price gouging at the four hotels.

The Parsippany property was actually named in the first round of complaints on Nov. 9.

“This one company and its four hotels allegedly committed a staggering number of violations of the price gouging law, and each separate violation merits a penalty of up to five figures,” Attorney General Chiesa said.

The three gas stations all raised their prices to more than $4 a gallon, according to the complaint. One station, a Lukoil in Piscataway, increased its price from $3.49 to $4.50 a gallon, while the station’s cost only increased 7 cents a gallon. A total of 16 complaints were received from customers of the station, according to the Division of Consumer Affairs.

The following is a list of properties named in the most recent round of price-gouging complaints: